Overhead door safety catch



June 28, 1966 L. T. LAMBERT OVERHEAD DOOR SAFETY CATCH 3 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Jan. 9, 1964 Jig- INVENTOR LUC/AN I LAMBERT ATTORNEYS June 28,1966 LAMBERT 3,258,062

OVERHEAD DOOR SAFETY CATCH Filed Jan. 9, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.LUCIA N 7.' LAMBERT llwifilulwm A TTOR/VEYS June 28, 1966 L. T. LAMBERTOVERHEAD DOOR SAFETY CATCH 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 9, 1964 INVENTORLUC/AN 7. LAMBERT A TTORNEYS United States Patent 3,258,062 OVERHEADDOOR SAFETY CATCH Lucian T. Lambert, 6084 E. 18th, Tulsa, Okla. FiledJan. 9, 1964, Ser. No. 336,812 3 Claims. (Cl. 160-201) This inventionrelates to overhead doors. More particularly it relates to a safetydevice to prevent the accidental falling of overhead doors.

Overhead doors of the type to which this invention relates, typicallycomprise a multiplicity of hinged horizontal panels having guide rollerswhich operate within a track permitting the door to be raised from arelative lower closed vertical position to a relatively upper openhorizontal position. In many instances, to facilitate the raising andlowering, a counterbalance means is provided to assist in raising thedoor and prevent the rapid acceleration of the door as it is beingclosed. In many instances manufacturers use heavy duty coil-type springswhich are adapted to uncoil during the raising operation and henceassist the operator and, conversely, wind up during the loweringoperation and hence prevent the rapid acceleration of the door to thevertical closing position. In many instances these doors weight as muchas 300 pounds or more and if the spring or counterbalance means breaksduring the raising operation the operator must then support the fullWeight of the door which in many instances becomes impossible to docausing injury and damage to persons and property. Many overhead .doorsinclude glass paneling which shatters and breaks causing additionalinjury.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to overcome this problemassociated with many overhead doors and provide a safety catch whichprevents the falling of the door in that event of failure of thecounterbalancing means.

Another object of this invention is to provide a ratchetlike safetycatch for the guide rollers normally associated with overhead doorpanels which permits movement of the door in one direction and preventsmovement in the other direction until released manually or electricallyby the operator.

These and other objects of this invention will become more apparent uponfurther reading of the specifications and claims when taken inconjunction with the following illustrations of which:

FIGURE 1 is a frontal elevational view depicting a portion of anoverhead door using the apparatus of this invention.

FIGURE 2 is a partial side elevation view depicting the modificationsrequired of the overhead door guide roller rail.

FIGURE 3 is a schematic view describing the means by which the safetycatch apparatus of this invention may be adapted to an electricallyoperated overhead door.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 5 is a top sectional view taken along the line 55 of FIGURE 4.

Detailed description Referring now to FIGURE 1 the safety catch of thisinvention is adapted to be used in conjunction with a typical garage orenclosure 10 having an overhead door 11 which includes a multiplicity ofpanels 12 connected by hinges 14 which permits pivotal movement betweenthe sections. In many instances, each hinge includes a bracket 16 towhich is attached a guide roller, shown in later views, for movementwithin a guide railing or track 3,258,862 Patented June 28, 1966 18.Usually, this railing extends on each side of the overhead door andincludes a vertical portion 20 and upper horizontal portion 22 connectedby a curved portion 24. The overhead door includes a cable bracket 26 towhich is afiixed cable 28 which extends vertically to a drum 30 whichpermits winding of the cable as the door is raised. The drum 30 isattached to a horizontal shaft 32 which extends to the other side of thedoor where a similar cable drum is attached. A typical counter balancingsystem for overhead doors includes a coil spring one end of which isattached either to the shaft 32 or to the cable drum 30 and the otherend of which is fixed with respect to the drum or shaft such that inoperation the spring will be wound and unwound to provide a counterbalance force.

The safety catch of this invention is generally indicated by thenumerals 48 which are hereinafter more fully described. Each of thesafety release members are interconnected by a cable 42 which extendsfrom an upper fixed bracket 44 to a foot release lever 46 which ishingeably attached to the floor 48. In some instances it is desirable tomaintain the cable 42 relatively taut and a spring 50 is provided inmany instances for this purpose.

In FIGURE 2 the modification and construction of guide rail 18 as usedin most overhead door systems is depicted describing one or more slots52 which are spaced from each other depending upon the spacing betweenthe guide rollers of the overhead door. The slots 52 are cut in theguide rail in any well known manner or they may be formed as a part ofthe original equipment. In a typical installation the lower most slot 52is placed about 6 feet from the floor 48 with any upper slots spacedapproximately 2 feet above. It is to be understood that in someinstances a single safety catch 40 which would include a single slot 52is adaptable for satisfactory use in this invention. However, two suchsafety catches are usually preferable in each guide rail 18.

In FIGURE 3 a diagrammatic illustration describes the use of this typeinvention with an electrically operated overhead type door using safetycatches 40 in conjunction therewith. In such installations anelectrically operated control switch which is normally adapted tomechanically raise and lower the door, not shown, is adapted to make andbreak electrical connection 62 to solenoid 64 having a reciprocatablecore 66. Attached to the core 66 is a safety catch release cable 68which is attached to each of the safety catches 40, as hereinafterdescribed on each side of the overhead door. The cable 68 extends overappropriate sheaves 70, 72 and 74 to a termination point 76 with the endof the cable attached to a tension spring 78.

In operation, upon closing the switch for raising the door the solenoid64 is not actuated and release cable 68 remains in a relatively tautposition. As each of the overhead door rollers pass the safety catchesthey will pivot against the bias of spring 78 in one direction. Therollers however cannot return past the safety catches until released,when it is desired to lower the door. Upon closing the appropriateswitch the solenoid 64 is actuated and core 66 reciprocates downwardpivoting the safety catches 44 to an inactive position permitting thedoor rollers to pass thereby.

Referring now to FIGURES 4 and 5 a more detailed explanation of thesafety catch 40 of this invention is illustrated. The catch comprisesparallel plate members 80 between which is suitably positioned lowerstop member 82. Release member 84 is pivotally assembled between plates88 about a pin or shaft 86. Release member 84 includes an upperhorizontal stop portion 88 and a lower edge 90 interconnected forwardlyby a relatively vertical portion 92 and arcuate portion 94. The portions92 and 94 are an important feature of this invention in that if any partthereof is adjacent to the path of the guide roller there is a normaltendency to drive release member downward into the safety catch positionin that instance the manual or electrical release is not fullyoperative. Rearwardly, an arcuate portion 96 is provid d which connectsupwardly with pivot arm 98 which extends angularly outward with respectto the main body portion. At the outer termination of the arm 98 is asleeve 100 through which release cable 42, or cable 68 in theelectrically operated door model is threaded and retained by a lockingset-screw 102. In some instances it is desirable that the sleeve 100 bepivotally attached to arm 98 which would prevent undue angular stressmovement of the cable 42. The safety catch assembly 40 substantially asdescribed is attached to the guide railing 18 preferably along therelatively vertical portion by inserting the body portion of member 84through a slot or opening 52 and thence welding or otherwise attachingthe plate portions 80 to the guide rail such as by welding 104 or theymay be bolted in place. As shown in FIGURES 4 and 5 the roller assembly,usually associated with the hinges interconnecting the door panels 12includes a bearing or bushing portion 16 through which a shaft 106 ispositioned and rotatable therein. At the end of the shaft 106 is a guideroller 108 which normally travels within the provided track of railing18.

In the operation and use of this invention when the overhead door panels12 are being raised either manually or by the electrical operation therollers 108 upon striking the curved surface 94 of the member 84 willcause same to pivot about shaft or pin 86 and thus permit the rollers tomove upwardly therepast. However, any downward movement of the overheaddoor panels 12 is restrained by engagement of rollers 108 against theupper surface 88 of member 84 which in turn pivots downwardly againststop member 82 and hence retains the door in the position shown untilreleased by manually operating foot lever 46, as shown in FIGURE 1,which pivots member 84 out of the path of roller 108 as shown in thedotted lines of FIGURE 4, permitting its movement downward.

In the preferred operation for most overhead door systems two safetycatches 40 are utilized on each side of the overhead door. However, thisis not to be held as limiting as in some instances safety catches on oneside may be adequate. In use when the door is in its upper most positionthe rollers will normally not rest on the upper horizontal surface 88 ofmember 84 but will merely be in position in that instance the counterbalance means or the door holding force breaks. In that instance therollers will drop only a few inches into engagement with surface 88 andthence be retained. By thus positioning the rollers with respect to themember 84 it is not necessary to raise the door prior to pivoting lever84 out of position.

It is to be understood that in the modification of this invention thathand operated levers instead of foot operated levers as shown FIGURE 1may be utilized to release the safety catches. Additionally, it isunderstood that cables 42 and 68 may be either of a steel or in someinstances high strength synthetic materials.

Although this invention has been described with a certain degree ofparticularity, it is manifest that many changes may be made in thedetails of construction and configuration of the components withoutdeparting from the spirit and the scope of this disclosure. Accordingly,the detailed description is made by way of example only and is notintended to constitute a limitation of the invention which is delineatedin the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A door construction comprising the combination of,

.a plurality of panels hingeably pivoted to each other along horizontalaxes,

a plurality of guide rollers attached to the vertical edge of saidpanels,

a guide rail adjacent each of said vertical edges and contiguous to saidrollers, said rail including a substantially overhead horizontalportion, at least one vertical slot in the upper part of said verticalportion of at least one of said guide rails, and a safety catchcomprising plate means attached do said nail adjacent said slot,

a release member pivotally connected to said plate means for movementfrom a first position wherein a stop portion extends through said slotto at least across the path of said guide rollers to a second positionout of the path of said roller first means attached to said releasemember to normally bias said release member in said first position, and

second means to overcome said bias and to pivot and maintain saidrelease member in said second position.

2. A safety catch for retaining, in one position, overhead door rollerswith respect to a roller track comprising parallel plate membersattachable to said track contiguous to an opening in said track,

a release member pivotally connected between said plate members in oneposition across the path of said rollers, a forward stop portion on saidrelease members extending through said opening, said release memberhaving a pivot arm angularly outwardly and rearwardly from said forwardportion,

a stop member positioned between said plate members and below saidrelease member adapted in such position to limit the downward pivotalmovement of said release when in said position across the path of saidrollers,

a sleeve at the outer termination of said pivot arm,

a release cable attached to said sleeve and spring biased to normallymaintain said release member in said one position,

means operative to pull said cable and overcome said bias to pivot saidrelease member away from said position across said path.

3. A door construction comprising the combination a plurality of panelshingeably pivoted together along horizontal axes,

a plurality of spaced guide rollers attached to the vertical edges ofsaid panels,

a guide rail adjacent each of said vertical edges receiving saidrollers, said rail including a substantially vertical portion curvingupwardly to a substantially overhead horizontal portion,

a plurality of vertically spaced slots in the said substantiallyvertical portion of one of said guide rails,

a safety catch adjacent each of said slots having, vertically parallelplate members attachable to said rail on each side of said slot, a stopmember attached between said plate members at the lower end of saidslot,

a release member pivotally connected between said plate members andhaving a forward stop portion, said release member pivoted through saidslot from a first position across the path of said guide rollers andagainst said stop member to a second position out of the path of saidguide rollers, said release member having a rearward pivot arm,

a pivotal sleeve at the outer termination of said pivot arm,

release cable attached to said sleeve, and spring biased to normallymaintain said release member in said first position, one end of saidcable attached to a foot operated actuator for pulling said cable toovercome said bias and pivot said release member to said secondposition.

(References on following page) 5 6 References Cited by the Examiner2,287,372 6/ 1942 Blodgett 160113 2,703,247 3/1955 Wolf et a1.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,971,790 2/1961 Reid et a1 292235 6/1904 Stewart292235 X 1; Peelle. 292 23 X 5 REINALDO P. MACHADO, Primary Examiner. 3Jones 0 12/1935 Johnson et a1. HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Examzner. 3/ 1938McCloud 160-3 19 X D. L. TAYLOR, Assistant Examiner. 4/ 1941 Bayer.

1. A DOOR CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING THE COMBINATION OF, A PLURALITY OFPANELS HINGEABLY PIVOTED TO EACH OTHER ALONG HORIZONTAL AXES, APLURALITY OF GUIDE ROLLERS ATTACHED TO THE VERTICAL EDGE OF SAID PANELS,A GUIDE RAIL ADJACENT EACH OF SAID VERTICAL EDGES AND CONTIGUOUS TO SAIDROLLERS, SAID RAIL INCLUDING A SUBSTANTIALLY OVERHEAD HORIZONTALPORTION, AT LEAST ONE VERTICAL SLOT IN THE UPPER PART OF SAID VERTICALPORTION OF AT LEAST ONE OF SAID GUIDE RAILS, AND A SAFETY CATCHCOMPRISING PLATE MEANS ATTACHED TO SAID RAIL ADJACENT SAID SLOT, ARELEASE MEMBER PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAID PLATE MEANS FOR MOVEMENT FROMA FIRST POSITION WHEREIN A STOP PORTION EXTENDS THROUGH SAID SLOT TO ATLEAST ACROSS THE PATH OF SAID GUIDE ROLLERS TO A SECOND POSITION OUT OFTHE PATH OF SAID ROLLER FIRST MEANS ATTACHED TO SAID RELEASE MEMBER TONORMALLY BIAS SAID RELEASE MEMBER IN SAID FIRST POSITION, AND SECONDMEANS TO OVERCOME SAID BIAS AND TO PIVOT AND MAINTAIN SAID RELEASEMEMBER IN SAID SECOND POSITION.